In this revelatory exploration, religion professor and former evangelical Christian Timothy Beal explains how a box of handwritten scrolls became the Bible, and looks at how the multibillion-dollar business that has brought us Biblezines and manga Bibles is selling down the Bible's sacred capital. Beal, also the author of Roadside Religion (a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and one of Publishers Weekly's ten best religion books of 2005), offers many surprising insights, including the fact that the idea of the Bible as the literal Word of God is little more than a century old.

"In his well-received Biblical Literacy, [Religion professor Timothy] Beal explored ways to think about Bible stories and how they have become ingrained in our culture. Here he discusses the Bible as a book and as a cultural icon. Writing in a remarkably accessible style ... he begins with the fact that it wasn't until the 19th century and the rise of the Protestant evangelical movement that the Bible became an inherent guide to living and salvation. He goes on to demonstrate how much the Bible, what with so many contemporary versions and by-products, has morphed, devaluing the basic product. But perhaps Beal's main point is to show how the New Testament (and the Old, for that matter) comes from myriad sources, or, as he calls it, 'a cacophony of voices and perspectives, often in conflict with one another.' Yet Beal is more than just a debunker; in fact, once evangelical, he still considers himself a Christian. He exhorts readers to see the Bible not as a book of finite answers but as a crucible of questions that provoke, inspire, and even anger those who pick it up. The same might be said about his own book."—Booklist (starred review)